HIV and AIDS

Women and HIV

HIV Among Women

Fast Facts

Between 2005 and 2014, the number of new HIV diagnoses among women declined 40%.

Black/African Americana and Hispanic/Latinab women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, compared with women of other races/ethnicities. Of the total estimated number of womenc living with diagnosed HIV at the end of 2013, 61% (137,504) were African American, 17% (39,177) were white, and 17% (38,664) were Hispanics/Latinas.

The Numbers

Women made up 19% (8,328) of the estimated 44,073 new HIV diagnoses in the United States in 2014. Of these, 87% (7,242) were attributed to heterosexual sex,e and 13% (1,045) were attributed to injection drug use.

Among all women diagnosed with HIV in 2014, an estimated 62% (5,128) were African American, 18% (1,483) were white, and 16% (1,350) were Hispanic/Latina.

New HIV diagnoses declined 40% among women from 2005 to 2014. They declined 42% among African American women, 35% among Latina women, and 30% among white women.

Women accounted for 25% (5,168) of the estimated 20,792 AIDS diagnoses among adults and adolescents in 2014 and represent 20% (246,372) of the estimated 1,210,835 cumulative AIDS diagnoses in the United States from the beginning of the epidemic through the end of 2014.

Estimates of New HIV Diagnoses in the United States for the Most-Affected Subpopulations, 2014

Living With HIV and Deaths

An estimated 284,500 women were living with HIV at the end of 2012, representing 23% of all Americans living with the virus. Of women living with HIV, around 11% do not know they are infected.

Of women diagnosed with HIV in 2013, 84% were linked to HIV medical care within 3 months. But only 55% of women living with HIV were retained in care (receiving continuous HIV medical care).f Only 39% of women living with HIV at the end of 2012 were prescribed antiretroviral therapy (ART), the medicines used to treat HIV, and only 30% had achieved viral suppression.g

An estimated 1,859 women died from HIV or AIDS during 2013.

Prevention Challenges

The greater number of people living with HIV (prevalence) in African American and Hispanic/Latino communities and the fact that people tend to have sex with partners of the same race/ethnicity mean that women from these communities face a greater risk of HIV infection with each new sexual encounter.

Some women may be unaware of their male partnerâ€™s risk factors for HIV (such as injection drug use or having sex with men) and may not use condoms.

Assuming no
prevention methods (such as condoms or
medicines to prevent HIV) are used, the risk of getting HIV during vaginal sex is higher for women than it is for men. Anal sex is riskier for getting HIV than vaginal sex, and the risk is much greater for the receptive partner than for the insertive partner in anal sex. In a behavioral survey of heterosexual women at increased risk of HIV infection, 25% of HIV-negative women reported having anal sex without a condom in the previous year.

Some sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, greatly increase the likelihood of getting or spreading HIV.

Women who have been sexually abused may be more likely than women with no abuse history to engage in sexual behaviors like exchanging sex for drugs, having multiple partners, or having sex without a condom.

What CDC Is Doing

Through its high-impact prevention approach, CDC is working with state and local partners throughout the United States to identify and implement the most cost-effective and scalable interventions in the geographic areas and populations most affected by HIV. Activities include:

Funding to health departments and community-based organizations:

Starting in 2012, CDC
has awarded at least $330 million each year ($343.7 million in 2015) to health departments to direct resources to the populations and geographic areas of greatest need and prioritize the HIV prevention strategies that will have the greatest impact.

CDC is awarding approximately $130 million over 5 years (2014-2019) to provide training and technical assistance for staff of health departments, community-based organizations, and health care organizations to help them link HIV-positive people to care, retain or reengage them in care, and help them achieve viral suppression.

Doing It, a new national HIV testing and prevention campaign that encourages all adults to know their HIV status and protect themselves and their community by making HIV testing a part of their regular health routine;

Letâ€™s Stop HIV Together, which raises HIV awareness and fights stigma among all Americans and provides many stories about people living with HIV;

a Referred to as African American in this fact sheet.b Hispanics/Latinas can be of any race.c Adult and adolescent females aged 13 and older.d HIV and AIDS diagnoses indicate when a person is diagnosed with HIV infection or AIDS, but do not indicate when the person was infected.e Heterosexual sex with a person known to have, or be at high risk for, HIV infection.f In 27 states and the District of Columbia (the areas with complete lab reporting by December 2014).g A person with a suppressed viral load has a very low level of the virus. That person can stay healthy and has a dramatically reduced risk of transmitting the virus to others.

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